Over the past few years, there has been a lot of hysteria regarding Meghan Markle’s validity and sincerity as a person, especially as a woman. Media outlets and tabloids, specifically the British press, have torn down her looks, her personal choices, her values, and often compare her to her sister-in-law Kate Middleton. Due to the British media’s negative portrayal of her and endless fabricated stories, she has had to suffer in silence and as she stated in an interview, “I never thought that this would be easy, but I thought that it would be fair. And that’s the part that is really hard to reconcile.”It is so strange that the media gets off by degrading women and downplaying their successes in order to push a toxic narrative. Women already downplay their own successes in business and in their personal lives by apologizing or shying away from receiving recognition for their hard work. This is made worse when you have a society perpetuating the idea that women are no more than their faults and their failures, or at least the ones perceived by the media. In Meghan’s case, media portrays her as conniving and having hidden agendas. For some reason, the British media can’t comprehend the simple fact that a man and a woman fell in love with one another, and that that is where the story ends. Unfortunately, for the media and probably for others, their love story must be too good to be true and that Meghan must have put Harry under some kind of love spell. It’s like, no, this is not the plot for Shrek 2 playing out in real-time. I suppose it’s difficult for others to understand that you can fall for someone’s heart and mind, aside from their beauty and notoriety.
Furthermore, Meghan is an intelligent and talented woman who is a champion for other women and young girls, and often addresses issues regarding a woman’s right to education and having equal opportunities to grow and prosper in a multitude of spaces. Additionally, Meghan was a counselor for the international charity “One Young World.” South African professor and lawyer, Thuli Madonsela, has said that Meghan, “has immeasurable Ubuntu. She always had and this was clear from our first meeting at the One Young World summit in Toronto 2016.” The word Ubuntu refers to “a quality that includes the essential human virtues; compassion and humanity.” I have noticed that Meghan values true human connection and understanding, and finding solutions to issues that strike her as most important. Honestly, I don’t see that quality in enough people these days. It seems as if only a special few have the ability to be unabashadley open and honest with themselves and others, and truly take the time to understand someone. You can’t make progress if you don’t seek to understand, and that is a lesson that is often overlooked and unlearned. This is apparent when you see how some individuals interact with one another. People have so many walls built up in order to secure and maintain their personal levels of comfort. My advice to everyone is to get uncomfortable, go out into the world, and make human connections with individuals of all cultures, ethnicities, etc.. All we have is each other, so we need to be more kind and open to one another, and this can only happen by self-reflection, education, and enriching experiences.
One Young World Summit 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-Ddc-gEMu8&t=235s
Meghan is also a patron of the charity Smart Works, which services unemployed women by offering them dressing sessions and coaching services in order to help them get back into the workforce. In September 2019, Meghan released a capsule collection that sold items on a one-to-one basis, which means that an item was donated for each item sold. She consistently services women and is a part of projects that seek to uplift women and young girls to achieve their goals and have opportunities where their voices can be heard. Unfortunately, the media portrays her as problematic and controlling, instead of shedding light on the initiatives that she supports and has supported for almost her entire life. Meghan had said something during her 2015 UN Women speech that really struck me, which was, “women make up half the world’s population and potential. So it is neither just nor practical for their voices — for our voices — to go unheard at the highest levels of decision making.” She is a prime example of a woman’s woman who wants to provide the tools, resources, and support for women to succeed in life and business, and to have a reach within their communities and beyond.
Meghan’s UN Women 2015 Speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zkb-zg4JCLk&t=431s
It is disappointing (to say the least) that the media and people who buy into their baseless stories are focusing on the negative, believing the negatives, and tearing down women rather than uplifting and supporting them. The culture of the media needs to change, but especially how they portray women, and particularly women of color. The hate and lies they spew is not real journalism, and should not be the end-all-be-all for obtaining information. I hope that others learn that supporting women and giving them the tools to succeed is a good thing. The more we uplift women, the more progress we will see in improving legislature, economic growth, business, and overall quality of life in all parts of the world. In addition, I hope the Meghan shaming and ridicule train ends, or at the very least we can stand up for women when they are down and lend a hand. Let’s all, men and women, learn to focus on the good, and find the good in others and give them the tools to share that good with the world. That is where progress begins, not ends.
Smart Works website: https://smartworks.org.uk/